Sound reproduction and recording technology has been in existence since the nineteenth century. Modern day examples of reproduction and recording technologies include, but are not limited to, speakers, camcorders, headsets, smart phones, tablets, computers, digital audio workstations (DAW). By design, these technologies typically enable a user to easily record music and other forms of audio and/or video content, regardless of whether the music or other form of media content that is being recorded is occurring live, such as a user bootlegging audio or video at a concert, or being played back on demand; or whether the media content that is being recorded is being delivered/transmitted via over-the-top streaming media (OTT), radio, cable, satellite, IPTV, a movie/film projector at a movie theater, wireless communication, such as a conversation over a cellular phone, or whether the media content is played from a file stored locally on a user's device, such as a computer, tablet or smart phone while it is being recorded.
Sound reproduction and recording technology has of course many highly beneficial applications and uses. One prevalent detrimental use of recording technology, however, is that such recording technology can be used to create unauthorized (and often illegal) recordings or reproductions of video and audio. Examples of unauthorized recordings include, but are not limited to, an unauthorized recording of a performance or an event (either audio only or audio and video), for example live concerts, live speeches, or sporting events, often referred to as a “bootleg” and “bootlegging”; a recording of a film made with camcorders at a movie theater, often referred to as theatrical “camcording”; a recording made from music while it is streamed from a website, for example a video sharing website or a music streaming service, or played back locally from a computer, set-top box, smart phone or .mp3 player through an output device, such as a direct cable or patch cable, speakers, headphones, earbuds or a headset; an unauthorized recording of a phone call by a participant in the phone conversation; an unauthorized recording of a private video conference, for example a recording of a doctor-patient telemedicine appointment; and a recording created through software that automatically tapes television programming and then uploads the unauthorized recording to a digital locker or a website designed to retransmit pirated content.
Unauthorized recordings have had a far-reaching negative impact on the entertainment vertical, including the music industry, the movie industry and television broadcasters. Since the early 20th century, bootlegging music and other audio has been a concern of the entertainment industry. Unfortunately, a countless number of movies and albums have been illegally recorded and/or distributed, denying artists and their recording labels billions of dollars in yearly revenue. The first notable popular album bootleg was Bob Dylan's Great White Wonder (1969). In 1966, Dylan refused to be in the public eye after a serious motorcycle accident. During this period, Dylan unofficially recorded music with various artists. Though these songs were not released by Dylan's label to the general public, they were broadcasted legally on local radio stations in the Los Angeles area. As a result, demand for these songs grew. Eventually a group of bootleggers with connections in the radio industry managed to acquire these unreleased songs and illegally printed and distributed them in 1969.
Piracy of media such as, for example, movies, music, live events and television shows, remains rampant. According to some studies, for example, a high-percentage of all music consumed is downloaded illegally. Individuals with High Fidelity (HI-FI) speakers and an adequate microphone can illegally record copyrighted material. Concertgoers with state of the art recording equipment or even an Apple iPhone can make bootleg recordings without the consent of the artist, recording label, or venue. Movies and Audio can be pirated from bit torrent and filing sharing websites. In addition, audio and/or video can be easily extracted from YouTube through sites like youtube-mp3.org. These sites find the location of the desired file through the website key, extract the fly file from Youtube, and convert it to either an mp3 or mp4 format. No sooner is a television show, movie, sporting event, concert, music video or new recording broadcasted, than it is reproduced illegally within minutes, despite explicit warnings against illegal copying and retransmission of intellectual property.
Embodiments of the present invention, described herein with reference to the attached drawings, recognize the ease with which unauthorized recording of copyrighted, proprietary or confidential media content can be made using recording and sound reproduction technology, and provides a number of technical implementations that effectively distort, mar and deface or otherwise render unusable the unauthorized recordings.
Current approaches, such as watermarking, are after-the-fact identification approaches used to identify the culprit who has recorded and retransmitted intellectual property. In contrast, embodiments of the present invention provide technical implementations that prevent, or at least significantly deter, piracy before is succeeds, by rendering the illegally captured content useless.